When American Airlines knocked out the ORD-DEL flight a short while after they entered Chapter 11 protection, I was slightly crossed with them. And I had good reason to be, I had just started to earn top-tier status with AAdvantage due to the OneWorld MegaDo, and was planning to make American Airlines my regular flight for travels to the USA, and switch to the oneworld network for going places outside my base at BOM.
With this move, I was still going to be able to use the oneworld benefits, by taking a one stop flight via London on BA or Brussels on Jet Airways, but I was going to be unable to use my upgrade benefits fully, which are valid when flying on American Airlines metal only. Also, all of a sudden I could not book award tickets online since American Airlines could not support partner award redemptions online.
Gladly, I noticed on Lucky’s blog the other day that AAdvantage has now added the functionality to book British Airways award space via the AA.com website. That instantly meant that I could now book my AAdvantage miles from India to travel not just to the USA but anywhere that BA went, using the AA.com website, which is a significant addition of functionality for me since I don’t have to Skype or call international to book an award ticket.
Now that makes life so much easier, and helps me keep my commitment with AA for the times to come. This means I no longer have to go on an award space ‘hunt’ to Europe and I can book away directly using the website. Thanks Maya Liebman for moving to become the CIO of American Airlines.
On the AA wishlist now, is if they could convert the upgrade vouchers to be used on partner upgrades as well, like United members get for Lufthansa… then nothing is stopping me from stepping up my commitment to American Airlines!
There, I said it…
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There’s a US based number for BA… is it only for BAEC issues?
@Mike, till the time AA had indian ops they had a helpdesk here as well, but now I have to call half way around the world to do some work with them. however, nothing beats the convenience of online in my opinion, and if it can handle complicated routing, then bring it on 😉
Not sure why calling using Skype was such a hassle for you. And you could always look up BA availability on BA.com instead of AA.com. AA’s wait times are great compared to UA/CO and their agents are a lot more competent. BTW, why would you fly BA to Europe? Crazy fuel surcharges after the BA-AA ATI deal. Possibly the best value on the AA chart is the India to Europe roundtrip for 60k in C and 80k in F. Much cheaper than the corresponding award on UA, BA, DL and US. Fly 9W or EY on this sector instead of BA and save on the crazy BA YQ charges.
I am planning to do just that.. Fly India Europe on ba or other one world partners using miles from aa. But this one is convenient so it is another option..